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After a long legal battle, Snapchat has come to a settlement with Reggie Brown, who claimed he was a third co-founder of the wildly successful company. “His suit alleged that he had been a third co-founder alongside CEO Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, the technology chief, and that they had kicked him out one month before the photo-sharing app launched in July 2011″. Spiegel and Murphy recently admitted that they did not come up with the idea for Snapchat on their own, and Brown was involved in the process. The company is now valued at $10 Billion, when Brown filed the lawsuit in February 2013 it was valued at $70 million. The terms of the settlement have not been released.

More than a few years ago, the term “phone-mining” probably meant nothing to anyone. Nowadays, it has become one of the most controversial topics all over the United States, including our federal courts. A recent ruling states that the acquisition of data through mobile phones, including cell phone numbers and and timestamps, is unconstitutional. The case itself, Klayman v. Obama (13-cv-881), was heard in Washington D.C. under Judge Richard Leon. This private collection of data was leaked by former NSA contractor and controversial figure Edward Snowden, who is currently living in Russia under temporary asylum. Read more

Blackberry’s tough times continue as their shareholders cry foul. In a recent class-action lawsuit, thousands of investors claim that they were misled by the company’s lofty sales expectations. Many are complaining that the company failed to compete with industry leaders Google and Apple (let alone Microsoft). The lawsuit includes a number of those who bought stock in Blackberry over the past calendar year. Unhappy campers are furious that they mistakenly placed their faith in the wrong smartphone/technology movement and are seeking damages. Read more

Back in April of 2012, the United States Government sued 5 different publishers for their involvement in fixing e-book prices. These publishers included Penguin, Simon and Schuster, Hachette, and HarperCollins. The first four publishers were able to settle with the government and now the tally is up to 5. Macmillan Publishing was the last publishing company to settle with the Justice Department, but the government is now looking for bigger fish to fry. The wildly popular tech company Apple is under the microscope for conspiring with these 5 publishing companies that have now all settled. Apple will be in trial starting this June. Read more

Think of this as a teaser for a heavyweight match that will take place in a few months. A judge has ordered that Apple and Amazon attempt to reach a settlement over use of the word “Appstore” before their big court date in the summer. Apple, the technology giant, claims that they own rights to the phrase and had already sued the e-commerce site Amazon.com. A judge had ruled that Apple had no claim to the fictional phrase. U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte has urged the two companies to gather this spring in attempts to avoid a later clash over the intellectual property, copyrights, or trademarks. If no settlement is reached, Apple and Amazon will soon go before a judge in Southern California over using “Appstore”. Read more